Life as a Vampire
by fearlessgoddess2
Summary: Sam rescues a girl from vampires that wanted to turn her...a minute too late. He explains to her what she is and how she can survive without killing people, but the vampires are still after her. What do they want?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Chapter 1:

Get up, get dressed, use the toilet, make myself decent, grab a yogurt shake, grab my purse, get out the door, work, get on the bus, go back home, sleep, then do it all over again. For the last year, with little variation, that has been the extent of my life. Of course, I still write, still try to publish my romance fiction novels, still hope for that raise at McDonalds. Maybe go out for a night on the town with the girls. That's about it, though. And that's what I did today. Minus the night on the town.

After work, I walked down the dirty sidewalk in the dark, sat down on the bench at the bus stop. I smelled the scents that only New York City could produce. I glanced at my watch. 9:48. Just late enough for the normal to be asleep, but not late enough for the night-owls to be out clubbing, so the bus would have the nice seats empty.

About five minutes later, the bus squealed to a stop in front of me. I pushed myself to my feet and entered it. Nodded a polite hello to the driver, with whom I empathize. Same job, same routine, every day. I fell down into a seat about halfway back, angling my arm to rest my head against the window. I was tired so I closed my eyes.

There were several other stops along the way. Ten minutes into the ride, the bus stopped again, making a particularly abrupt halt. I opened my eyes, glancing around. A man walked onto the bus and took the seat behind the one next to me. I didn't pay much attention to that until the hairs on the back of my neck prickled and the feeling that someone's watching me crept down my spine.

I sat up straight and smoothed back my hair with a sigh. I didn't turn around to check and make sure it's right. I knew it was. I knew I could depend on that feeling. That sixth sense. It's extra special for me.

I trained myself. For what, you ask? God knows for what. All I knew was that I had this incredible urge to be able to defend myself against anyone, to be able to protect myself from this big, bad world. This started when I was about eight years old. It was basically this feeling I had about getting sick of all the stories about the women being saved and swept off her feet by the guy. Rapunzel. Snow White. Cinderella. Basically every Hollywood movie ever created. Hell if I was going to play damsel in distress too.

I'm not sure what my mother would have thought of it. My dad left when I was born and she died when I was two, so I hopped around foster homes. I still practice and exercise. Keep my strength up. Go to the dojo and spar a couple times a week. Just in case. I have to say that it's nice to be a twenty-year-old who could walk down a New York City road feeling relatively safer than the next girl.

I've only gotten this feeling a few other times. Not that paranoid feeling, the one where you feel oh-geez-someone-wants-to-sell-me-something. The _real _feeling. The one where you think, "Oh God, I've seen this movie, and I die." When I had been forced to take a shift after dark, something that I do my best to avoid, and I was followed to my car. Got that feeling I was talking about. Took a block for him to attack me. The guy wanted to take my money or worse, I was assuming.

I punched him in the nose, kneed him in the groin, and kicked him in the stomach. Taught _him_ what happens when you go after a helpless-looking woman.

So right now, I got that feeling. I narrowed my eyes, pissed. I really didn't need this. Why doesn't anyone just worry about their own life? Don't bug me about it. I got my own problems to deal with.

I reached into my purse and subtly took out some blush that came with a mirror. Angling it nicely, I pointed it back at the guy who'd just come on and sat next to me. He was looking the other way, but I still brought it back and forth between me and him, taking out the pad and patting it systematically on my cheeks and nose just in case he could guess what I was doing.

Dark hair, jean jacket, dark pants, blue shirt. Not particularly attractive. Thin, gold link chain around his neck. Worn in sneakers. Sunglasses. Legs crossed. I'm-here-but-not-really look. Annoyingly normal. Trying too hard to look like he wasn't trying. With the flick of my wrist, I closed the blush and slipped it back into my purse.

It was only three more blocks to my apartment, so I decided to ditch him. The bus stopped and I stood up, accustomed to its predictable lurching. Normal-guy them was one of them. Great.

Walking quickly down the aisle, I went down the steps and exited smoothly onto the sidewalk. I didn't hear footsteps behind me, but normal-boy had suddenly bumped into my shoulder and was walking next to me. Right before I grabbed his hand, twisted it around, sending him to his knees, and made him beg to let him go, he grabbed the back of my neck.

I reached for his wrist over my shoulder and prepared to hook my other arm under his to flip him, but within a split second I knew I was in trouble. He had maneuvered himself behind me, out of my reach, and spun me around, pulling me against him securely. He knew what he was doing.

I gnashed my teeth together in determination and grabbed the arm to pull it away, at the same time moving my left leg forward and right back to swing him around and off of me. But was suddenly a cloth covering my nose and my mouth. And at that moment, I knew this wasn't a mugging.

"Don't make this hard, Dominique," he whispered.

My heart skipped a beat. _He knows my name. _The man slid his right leg around mine in a mirror position to block my counter-attack. I struggled against him, trying to fight back before I had to breathe, but he was impossibly strong, and eventually I had to take a breath. My vision blurred, my muscles relaxed, and I slipped into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Chapter 2:

You know that split second of feeling just plain peaceful and happy right before you fully wake up? Right between asleep and awake? Yea, I didn't get that when I woke up.

My eyes snapped open and took in my surroundings, horror sliding through my veins like ice. I was on my back on what looked like an operating table and my hands and ankles were in leather restraints. An IV had been inserted into my hand and securely taped. And I was hooked up to at least three machines. Yet it looked like the operating room I was in was in the back of some old apartment. The fear that clutched my chest was so strong it felt like I was going to pass out.

So I screamed as loud as I could, knowing, deep down, that it wouldn't do any good.

What were they going to do to me? Why was I in an operating room? Why was I in restraints? I started panicking as the endless possibilities, each increasingly painful, raced through my mind. This wasn't a normal kidnapping; there was something seriously wrong here.

It seemed like an eternity before the door swung open and two men concealed behind white doctor's coats walked in.

"Start the procedure," one murmured to another.

"What are you doing?" I cried, jerking at the restraints. "Let me out of here!"

"Please stay calm," the same doctor told me as the second went into a drawer and took out a syringe and removed the cap. "This will all be over soon."

"She shouldn't have woken up at all," one doctor said to the other, as if I wasn't there.

The man didn't respond, just glanced over to the second doctor, and, feeling a numbing sensation, I looked to my arm and suddenly realized that the machine that was hooked up to the inside of my right elbow had started taking my blood.

I wracked my brain for what they could possibly need to operate on me to gain. Nothing came to mind. Were they some sort of organization that was going to torture me for information? What information could I possibly have? And, hell, they didn't need to torture me. I'd sing like a canary! They had to know that!

"Please," I begged, yanking desperately at the restraints, "please, let me go…please…."

The world started to go blurry and my arm felt paralyzed and pained from the blood loss. My breathing grew shallow and my eyes started to close. I lost track of time passing. After a while, I felt the doctor on my left take my other arm and inject me with something. I was too tired to resist, unable to even keep my eyes open anymore.

Suddenly, the door swung open and the man who had entered slammed it behind himself, sprinting over to me.

"The project's been scrapped," he snapped. The words flowed through my head like there was water in my ears.

"What?" the doctor exclaimed, stunned at the change of plans. "We've already injected her. She—."

"Get the hell out of here, now," the man spat at him. "Take only what's necessary. We've been compromised."

A few seconds later, only half conscious, I vaguely felt myself being freed from the restraints and machines.

I tried to take advantage of my freedom, but I couldn't move. How much blood had I lost? I felt barely alive. Two sets of footsteps darted through the room and a door opened and slammed shut.

I tried to figure out what was going on. Why the man was panicking. _Compromised…_. As his last word echoed through my head, my consciousness grabbed onto it and realized what it meant: someone must be coming to get me the hell out of there. I knew they must already be there or were damn close. Hope blossomed inside me.

_Just don't fall asleep again_, I told myself as firmly as possible. _Don't fall asleep again_. Yet my thoughts started to become misty.

I suddenly heard two shots from the other room. The man growled, "Dammit," and his arms went under my arms and legs, picking me up. Agony echoed through me from the blood loss, like my entire body had fallen asleep and I had just slammed into something. A foot smashed into the door to the room twice, cracking it and swinging it open.

"Stop!" yelled the figure in the doorway. "Put her down!"

The man suddenly let me down, swinging his arm tightly around my neck, and putting his gun to my head. I was dizzy, painfully weak, and now I couldn't freaking _breathe_. "Drop it," the man told the blurry figure in the doorway. He didn't move. His arm tightened around my neck and I choked for air. "Now!" he yelled.

The last thing I heard was a gunshot before the world turned upside down and all the pain went away when everything mercifully blurred into blackness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Chapter 3:

Sam smashed in the door to the apartment, immediately seeing two armed men go for their guns, and shot both in the head with the bullets, which had dead blood inside. They collapsed to the floor and, moving quickly, he withdrew the sword from the strap on his back and decapitated both of them. He then went over to a door to his right and opened the second door, pointing his gun at the nearest target.

"Stop," Sam yelled. "Put her down!" He closed and locked the door behind himself with his left hand, just to make sure he wasn't surprised from behind.

The young man who had been holding the girl in his arms suddenly dropped her down and held her up with his arm around her neck, holding a gun to her head. "Drop it," he ordered Sam. Sam didn't move. He just stared straight ahead, his weapon holding the young man in its crosshairs. Sam could see that the girl was almost unconscious, white as a sheet. _Dammit_, Sam swore to himself.

The young man suddenly tightened his grip around the girl's throat and she choked for air. "Now!" he yelled.

Without wasting another second, Sam pulled the trigger, sending a bullet in through the young man's forehead. He let go of the girl, who fell to the ground, and stumbled backward, staring at Sam for a few seconds, before his legs gave out and he crumpled to the floor. Sam darted over and decapitated the vampire, before going to his target, dropping at her side.

He put two fingers to the side of her neck. Although she was unconscious, he was relieved to find a pulse, however weak. He placed his hand on her stomach lightly, to make sure that her breathing was regular. Then he hesitated, and pulled up her sleeves. His eyes closed in frustration when he saw the two tiny spots of blood, one on each arm, from where she'd been drained and injected. _Damn._ He holstered his weapon and carefully picked her up under her arms and legs, making his way out the door.

Sam noticed a small orange bag lying on the table in the living room with the initials DRN on the front. _Dominique Rose Nathan. _He walked over and crouched down, picked up the purse, and then left the apartment.

Sam opened the back door of the car and gently laid the girl across the seats. He put the purse on the floor, closed the door and went around to the driver's side, getting in, and starting the car. He pressed a few buttons on his cell phone, putting the Bluetooth on his ear.

"Hey, Dean. I got her." He paused and listened to the voice on the other end. "No, they turned her. I'm bringing her back to the motel, I'll talk to her, give her some animal blood. How's your job going…? Yea, I'm sure she's hot. Look, I'll talk to you later." He turned off the cell phone as he drove down the street, stopping at a red light.

Half an hour later, Sam pulled up into a motel parking lot and put the car in park, taking the keys from the ignition. After unlocking the door to his room, which he'd parked close to, he went back to the car and took a look around before he took girl and her purse inside. He carefully put her on the bed in the second bedroom, put her purse on the inside door handle of the room, and closed the door behind himself.

Once he'd double checked that the front door and all the windows were locked and the shades were closed, Sam walked over to the bed and let out a long breath. He rubbed at his eyes, blinked a few times, and glanced at his watch.

Since he knew that having Dominique wake up in a strange car risked her panicking and jumping out just to get away from him, he'd decided to take her to the motel until she woke up. Then he could explain everything. He grabbed a magazine and leaned back against the pillows.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Chapter 4:

My eyes fluttered open and I looked around, sat upright. My eyes focused and unfocused on my surroundings. I blinked rapidly. After a few moments I took in information, checking myself over. _I'm alive._ I wasn't restrained. I wasn't hurt. I was on a bed in the same clothes I had been in before and it didn't look like I had been redressed. I noticed that I wasn't under the covers. Whoever had taken me out of there had just put me on the bed with my head on the pillow. They hadn't even bothered to take my shoes off.

I'd been drugged. Jesus. What was this thing doing to me? I felt so goddamn_ weird. _Not drowsy or blurry though, unusually focused. Running my hands through my hair, I slid my legs off of the bed. Had I been rescued, or just taken to another location? The bedroom, as it obviously was, had two windows, shielded by Venetian blinds, a dresser, bedside table, and twin bed with an unremarkable comforter.

The feeling I had in my body was unlike any I'd ever felt before. I normally stayed away from drugs, I wasn't quite the party girl, so I didn't have experience in the _getting high _department, but this was odd. Also, it wasn't just my sense of sight, I realized. It was my sense of smell too. And hearing. I thought I could hear someone's heart beating in the next room. But that wasn't possible, right?

Man, I was thirsty.

I quietly walked over to the windows and slowly opened the blinds. It looked like were still in New York City, just in a motel. I carefully unlocked the window and pulled at it. To my surprise, it opened, letting in the cool night air. I considered the option of getting the hell out of there, but a dangerous interest in what was going on won out. I wanted to know why I was able to escape and where exactly I was escaping from, so I just left the window unlocked, in case I needed quick exit.

It was then that I noticed my purse hanging on the doorknob of the room. Narrowing my eyes curiously, I walked over to it and picked it up, examining it. Everything that was inside was supposed to be there. Moving aside the Velcro flaps on the bottom, I realized that they hadn't seen my concealed switchblade. I took it out and flicked it open.

After putting my purse down on my bed, I took a final look around my room before placing my left hand on the doorknob. Gripping my switchblade tightly in my right hand, I turned the doorknob so slowly that I almost heard the almost inaudible clicks it made. I silently opened the door just a crack and saw, to the left, a young man lying on the bed with his legs crossed, reading a magazine.

Without another thought, as quickly as I could, I flew the door open and lunged at him with my knife. I stunned myself with the speed I was able to move, not knowing that a drug could do something like that to someone.

He drew back and his magazine dropped from his hands, bouncing off his leg and falling on the floor. The knife was against his throat under his chin in less than a split second with my hand around his neck and my knee on his chest, pushing him back into the bed. I wasn't quite sure what they'd injected me with, but it did give me a sense of strength, which I definitely liked at the moment, seeing as I'd been kidnapped.

"Crap," he muttered. "I didn't think to search you for a weapon." He seemed quite uneasy, but not actually scared. But I didn't focus on that. There was something more I felt.

My hand felt his gentle pulse beneath it and I could hear the blood rushing through his veins, his heart pumping. But that was impossible. I couldn't hear his _heart._ But his throat, open and vulnerable as I grasped his neck tightly under his chin, called to me, as if I should caress it. Like I was supposed to….

"I'm thirsty," I heard myself breathe.

"Okay," he whispered. "Dominique? Listen to me, ok?"

I blinked, and my gaze shot from his neck to his eyes. "How do you know my name?"

"My name's Sam. I found out that there were people after you—."

"Who was going after me?" I snapped. "What happened? And why do I feel so freaky?"

"I can explain everything."

"So start explaining."

"You were drained and injected with vampire blood."

"Is that some kind of new drug?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Sam swallowed. "No. I'm talking about…real vampire blood. Vampires have figured out that they're going extinct and needed a more efficient way to spread what they are through humans. I did my homework and you aren't the kind to take drugs, so that offer was off the table. You were too smart to drink it by accident. They would need to force you. And they drained you first to stock up on blood."

I stared at the young man I was clutching. "Y-You're insane," I breathed.

"You feel it, don't you? Your senses heightened. Your strength. Your speed. That feeling of hunger that you want something from me."

"You're lying," I whispered. "It's just a drug. I'm high."

"I want you to do me a favor," he said quietly. "I want you to pick up that necklace right there on the bedside table."

I looked slightly to my right and saw a silver necklace sitting there. I shifted my eyes back to his. "Why? What's it going to do to me? What did you to do it?"

"I didn't do anything to it."

"Then you pick it up first," I said, staring him down.

"Ok," Sam replied. His hand slowly went through the air and onto the table, picking up the necklace and bringing it over so I could see it. As it came close to me, I almost flinched. My muscles tightened defensively and my eyes narrowed, although I was unsure of why. "See?" he asked. "Just a regular silver necklace. Now you take it from me." He held it in the air for me to take.

Something in me didn't want to, for some reason, though common sense told me otherwise. He had bare hands. He couldn't have shielded himself from something that was on it. My left hand slowly reached through the air toward the necklace. My instincts were screaming at me not to, but I grabbed it.

And a second later, I dropped it with a gasp, darting to the other side of the room, clutching my hand. It felt like I'd grabbed hold of a steaming hot stove and there was an impression on my hand where it had burned me. I heard Sam take in a quick breath and looked up to see that when I'd let go of the knife, it had slightly nicked his skin when it fell.

"Oh crap," he breathed, staring at the blood on his hand. Sam got up off the bed and backed a few steps away from me, putting his hand to his throat.

The smell struck me unlike anything I'd ever felt. I stared at him, blinking occasionally. No, not at him; at his throat. I could still hear the blood in his veins. It felt like I needed it, like I didn't have enough blood of my own. My head tilted ten degrees to the right as I stared at it.

This couldn't be happening. He had to be lying. Vampire blood? I was injected with _vampire blood_? They'd somehow turned me? Vampires were spreading their disease like a virus, infecting others?

I felt an aching inside of me and then suddenly I felt new teeth emerge in my mouth from my gums and my vision sharpened even more. That's when I knew he was telling the truth.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Chapter 5:

"Dominique? You need to listen to me, ok?" Sam told me carefully, continuing to back away from me. I hoped he knew that if he ran, I'd chase him. Because I knew it right away. I almost _wanted _him to run.

"You need to keep yourself under control. You can do it. Others have done it before you. That's why I'm here. To help you. I try to stop vampires from turning others, but when I can't I try to help those who they've turned. Ok? Dominique?"

I felt my legs slowly taking steps toward him and a twinge in my throat that yearned for his blood, letting out a low growl. I knew what I needed to do to quench the thirst. Somehow I just knew. Even if I had never heard of vampires before, I would have known what I needed to do to feel better. To get the aching to stop.

"Dominique, don't do this," he pleaded. "We can get you blood another way. There are other ways. You don't even need human blood. You can drink animal blood instead."

In an instant, before I even realized what I'd done, I was across the room and had Sam up against the wall, just taking in his scent. All I heard was the blood rushing through his veins. All I saw was the pulse throbbing against his skin on his throat. All I felt was the fear that he had from what I was going to do. It felt out of my control. Something in the back of my mind told me that there was something wrong with this picture, but it was just a little tickle. Barely a thought.

I took in a deep breath of the scent of the blood seeping from the tiny cut on his throat. It was beautiful. It smelled more delicious than anything I'd ever smelled before.

Suddenly, Sam grabbed my neck and a searing pain went through me. I cried out, dashing away from him to the other side of the room instinctively, and my fangs retracted. I saw the silver rings on his hand and looked up to his eyes. The searing pain of reality brought me back. Forced me to realize what I'd been about to do.

"Oh God," I choked out backing up until I hit the wall. "Oh God, what am I?"

"It's ok," Sam said softly. "It's going to be ok."

"No it's not," I whispered. My back slid down along the wall to the ground as I clutched my neck. "It's not ok." I looked up to him. "What have they done to me?"

"I have some animal blood in the fridge for you," he explained. "I'll get you some. Let me just clean up my cut."

I didn't move, just staring at the ground.

Sam came over a few minutes later with a glass filled with blood. I stared at it for a few seconds, wishing that the aching that pounded in me for it would go away. When it didn't, I took the glass.

"Ugh, that's gross," I whispered after taking a long drink of it.

"But it does satisfy your hunger, right?" Sam asked.

I hesitated, thinking, but nodded. I sat on the ground for a few minutes, thoughts spinning through my head. Thoughts that told me I could be dreaming. That this wasn't real. That he was making it up. That I was having delusions. That something was _wrong _with what was happening.

"Vampires are real," I finally breathed.

Sam looked up to me from his seat on the couch. "Yea," he said with a long sigh.

"And I'm…one of them," I whispered.

He nodded slowly. "Yea."

"Why? Why did they do this to me?" I cried.

"They've been doing this for a while. A more efficient way to spread their existence."

"Their existence?" I repeated. "It's like spreading a virus. Why would they want to do that?"

"Some vampires believe they're better than humans. That they deserve to be the dominant race. So they turn people."

I looked up to him. "What does this mean? For…for me?"

"It means that your life is going to change. But you can still live it. It means that you're going to have to learn how to control these urges to harm people, but you can learn to control them. It also means that you're going to have to learn how to be careful."

"Careful how?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Basically, there are the vampires, a race that now includes you. They stay in the shadows for one reason: survival. Some vampires have been trying to spread what they are to other humans, like the kind that did it to you. Then there are people known as hunters who hunt the evil things out there. One of those evil things is vampires that kill or turn people. If we get to those they've turned in time, before they've killed, we can help those who became infected. At least most hunters. There are some hunters that think all vampires are evil."

"So you help people like me," I whispered.

He nodded. "Yea."

"Why?" I asked, looking up to him. "Why not just…kill us? If we're capable of murder—."

"Anyone's capable of murder," Sam told me.

"But I'm dangerous," I said suddenly. "I've read books. I've seen movies. If I get deprived of blood, I could attack someone."

"That's why you'll stick with me for a while. I'll help you learn the ropes and introduce you to a nest of vampires I know that drink animal blood. They'll show you where you can get blood."

"So animal blood is the only thing I'm going to be drinking…forever?" I whispered.

"I'll be honest with you, Dominique. Human blood doesn't taste disgusting. You could drink that. Attack humans. Drain them. But I don't think you _want_ to do that. And also, I doubt you'd get past me and out of here to do it."

I felt a sharp pain of instinctive panic in my chest and looked up to him, swallowing hard. "You'd kill me?" I whispered. "If I…attacked you right now?"

Sam nodded. "I would have to."

I looked away. "In some twisted way…that relieves me."

"That means you're still there," Sam told me. "The humanity in you is still there. You can do this."

"So…how does this work? I mean…obviously I've noticed the…blood thing and the silver thing, but what else?"

"Sunlight," he told me. "More than a few minutes in it and you start getting weak. You sunburn really fast."

"So I don't just burst into flame?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"What about crosses? Holy water?"

"Religious nonsense. You could take a bath in holy water, all you'd get is wet. Crosses are just crosses."

"And how about…" My voice trailed off as I looked back to my hand, which had healed. "I heal."

"Yea. Your body heals very quickly."

"What do I have to watch out for?"

"Decapitation. Anything else, you can heal from. And also, you always need to drink blood that's taken from something alive. Blood that's from a dead body, it's altered in a way that affects your body differently. Poisons you. A little can weaken you. Enough and it can be fatal."

I nodded slowly. "Ok." I took in and let out a deep breath. "Ok. So that's it for Vampire 101?"

Sam nodded. "Pretty much."

"What about these hunters that do want to kill me?"

Sam hesitated. "They can track vampires who aren't careful enough obtaining their blood. Or if they're sloppy enough to drink from a human directly, even kill them. They're smart. They have ties with police, so they have resources. You'll have to be careful so they don't find you."

Suddenly, there was a bang at the door. In a flash, Sam's hand slid in and out of his jacket and a gun appeared, pointed at the door.

"Hide," he snapped.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

I didn't hesitate. I was instantly on my feet and darted into the next room. The door burst open and an instant later a shot rang out and hit a target, who cried out. Then I heard a vicious slicing sound before the door swung open. Sam held a long blade dripping blood in one hand and his gun in the other. He wiped the blade off quickly on the bed and put it in his jacket. "Let's go," he quipped.

Sam ran over to me and grabbed my arm, pulling me over to the window. He opened the screen of the window I'd left open, ready with his gun to shoot anyone in sight. When he was satisfied it was safe to go outside, he went out, pulled me toward the window and helped me climb over the ledge outside, just as I heard the front door smash open.

"Come on," Sam hissed. He ran over to a car and took keys out of his pocket. I ran after him as he unlocked it.

"Take shotgun," he ordered. I didn't hesitate before getting into the passenger seat as quickly as possible, slamming the door shut, and putting my seatbelt on. He was instantly in the driver's seat, closing his door as well, and slipped the key into the ignition, starting the car.

Suddenly, I heard bullets smashing at the back window. I gasped and hastily slumped down in my seat. Sam swerved out onto the road, the tires screeching as they left skid marks, and sped away.

I breathed quickly and hard, glancing toward Sam. His face was firm and tense, barely showing any fear. He'd been trained for this. I hadn't. I decided that I was still pissed about being the damsel in distress, but at least I had someone to protect me. And it seemed like hunters had this thing down.

As we raced down the road, Sam took out his cell phone and pressed a few buttons, holding it to his ear. "Ethan, it's Sam. I need a safe place to stay." He paused. "Thanks. I'll be there in half an hour."

He hung up and dropped the phone into a cup-holder.

"I don't really go for the whole 'saving the damsel in distress' thing," I muttered. "I've taken martial arts since I was a kid. I can protect myself."

"Guns make unfair odds, though," Sam noted. I nodded slowly as he let out a long breath. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"Where is 'there' anyway?" I asked.

"This guy named Ethan's place. We have a sort of give-take relationship. It's complicated. But we'll be safe with him."

I silently kept my gaze on the floor for about thirty minutes as we drove, considering how bad our situation was, before he pulled over into a parking spot. "Let's go," Sam said, putting the car into Park. He got out and shoved the keys into his pocket.

We walked down the street and up to a brownstone. Sam rang the doorbell and the light on the porch went on. I spotted a camera up on the right and blinked, surprised. Hunters were big on security. Probably for a good reason.

The door opened and a man who looked to be in his thirties, and had obviously just woken up, answered the door. "Hey Sam," he said.

"Hey, Ethan, this is Dominique," he said. "Dom, Ethan."

"Nice to meet you," I said with a meek smile. We went inside and Ethan looked outside, back and forth, before closing and locking the door. We went down the hallway and in through another door, which he also locked behind us.

"You can take the couches in the living room," Ethan said. "I'm heading back to bed."

"Thanks," Sam replied. He motioned for me to follow him to the right. The motel didn't really look that lived-in. There were lots of boxes and little furniture. There were two couches, though, and that was all we needed.

I sat down on the smaller couch, knowing that Sam would need the bigger one. I hesitated before I looked up at him as he took his cell phone out and put it on the table before taking out his gun and checking the magazine.

"Why are you doing this for me?" I whispered suddenly.

He looked up, surprised. "What?"

"Why are you…helping me? You barely know me."

Sam thought for a second. "Well, I wanted to get you safe from the vampires that are coming after you and I wasn't able to do that. I should at least get you to the nest that you can stay with. Although I don't really know why they came after us after they'd turned you…. It might be because they want another vampire that drinks human blood in their nest…. I don't know." He sighed. "I stopped trying to understand evil a long time ago."

I hesitated. "Am I evil, Sam?"

Sam looked at me, surprised. "No, no of course not. Look. You haven't drank blood from a human yet. You haven't killed before. Some say that there's a line there that once you cross you can't come back. But you can live your life drinking animal blood. You don't have to hurt anyone."

I nodded. "Yea. Okay."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Chapter 7:

Sam and I took the opportunity we had to sleep, knowing that our energy was important. A few hours into sleep, I woke up. I wasn't sure why, but I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise, and I knew something was wrong.

"Sam?" I asked.

He twitched on the couch and opened his eyes, sitting up. "What?"

"I think something's wrong." I got up and turned on the light. Sam had his gun in his hand within a split second.

Before I realized what was going on, two men had leapt into the room. One rammed into me and sent me into the wall, leaving a Dominique-sized indent in it, and I fell to the ground with a cry. Sam barely had time to aim his gun before he caught a bullet in the shoulder. He cried out as he was propelled backwards, spinning around and collapsing to the ground, his weapon flying from his hands.

"Sam!" I cried, standing up. Barely before I got his name out, one of the men had darted over and grabbed Sam tightly around his neck, hoisting him up into a sitting position.

"You move, I'll snap his neck," the vampire said.

Sam had instinctively grabbed the arm around his neck, but it was too strong to pull away. It was tight on his windpipe and he coughed, gasping for air.

"I'm not moving!" I said quickly, holding my hands up in a signal to calm down. "Just don't hurt him."

"We don't want him, we just want you," he told me.

"Dom, get out of here!" Sam wheezed, struggling uselessly. "Go!"

I swallowed hard, staring at him, my face tight in anxiety, but didn't move. "You take me…you'll leave him alone? You won't hurt him?"

The vampire hesitated before nodding. "Fine."

"I'll…go with you," I whispered.

"No!" Sam growled. "Dom, they're lying!"

"Good girl," the vampire to my right said quietly. He took a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on, taking out some handcuffs.

The vampire took my arm and put them on. I jerked in reflex to the pain, crying out in realization that the handcuffs were made of silver. He held me tight, though, and put them on. My face cringed in pain as I tried not to look at Sam, knowing that he would just feel guilty. Then I felt something being injected into my neck, which must have been dead blood. After a few seconds, I started to get weak and collapsed, the only thing holding me up being the vampire.

"Let's go," he said to the other one. The vampire holding Sam let him fall to the ground, gasping for air, and Sam reached into his pocket. The vampire took out a gun and, before I could realize what was happening, shot Sam twice in the chest. He collapsed, not moving.

"No! You son of a bitch!" I tried to scream. It came out as a whimper, though, as I struggled to get away from my captor.

My first time being injected with dead blood. And I also got to experience being tied up and locked in a trunk. It was turning out to not really be my night.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Chapter 8:

After about a year of driving, at least that's what it felt like, we arrived at our destination. My wrists had pretty much gone numb. I'd tried to stay as still as possible to keep the cuffs from rubbing against them, but it was hard while I was being jostled around in the trunk. I realized at one point that my cell phone was in my pocket and hoped that they wouldn't find it so someone could track it. Who, I wasn't sure, if Sam was dead.

The car parked and the two vampires got out and I heard footsteps before the trunk opened. I winced at the light, a big change from total darkness, and arms picked me up, standing me on a dirt driveway. I did my best to stay on my feet as the vampire walked me inside what looked like an abandoned house. The dead blood was starting to fade away, but I still felt the effects. And there was no way I could overpower them. Looking around, blinking my blurry vision away, I couldn't see any other houses. Just trees and a few other cars.

I was walked inside where I saw other people lounging around, watching TV or playing cards. Looked pretty normal, except that the windows were all boarded up and they had a few people passed out bleeding from the neck lying around. I swallowed hard, trying to keep myself from wanting it. Suddenly I froze, realizing that as soon as everyone noticed I was there, they stopped what they were doing and looked over.

"Where are you taking me?" I whispered, blinking to keep the world in focus.

"Downstairs," the vampire replied.

Another vampire came into the foyer. "This is her?" he asked, looking me over.

"Yea," the first vampire replied.

"She's pretty," he murmured, rubbing a finger over my cheek.

I yanked away. "Don't touch me," I growled.

A shadow of a smile graced his face. "Feisty too. I'm sure she'll be much more cooperative later tonight. Bring her downstairs. I'll bring the girl."

"The what?" I asked, confused. I didn't get an answer, though. I was just forced forward and to the right, then down a flight of steps, through what looked like a very secure metal doorway, to the house's dusty basement. I looked around, realizing that there weren't any windows or furniture. There wasn't anything but some dust, actually, except for a single light bulb on the ceiling. No possibility of escape except for the door I'd come down through. Where at least a dozen vampires waited.

Great odds.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, louder this time. The vampire glanced at me before shoved me toward the corner of the room.

"Get over there."

I swallowed, obeying orders. The stairs creaked as the vampire I'd seen before, who was clearly the leader of the nest, walked down the steps, pulling a young girl by the arm into the basement. I cringed in despair as I looked at her. She couldn't have been more than twelve and looked completely terrified, tears staining her face.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking to the leader. "What are you doing with that poor kid?"

He let the girl go with a slight shove and she darted over to me, clutching my arm and hiding slightly behind me. My assumption was that she'd heard what I said and assumed I was an ally. The truth was that I was slightly thirsty and she wasn't helping.

"You probably don't want to get too close to her, Kaylie," he said softly.

"Don't let him hurt me," the young girl whispered, peeking out at the vampire.

I swallowed the pain of reality and looked to the girl. "He's right. You should go to the other side of the room," I whispered.

Kaylie looked up at me with confused eyes and I nodded. She slowly let go of my arm and walked over to the other corner, careful to stay as far away from the two men in the basement as possible.

"You are a very special girl, Dominique," he replied.

"I'd take it as a compliment, but I don't think it was meant as one," I said.

He smiled. "Not exactly. Your father was a vampire. I don't suppose you knew that."

I stared at him, stunned. "What'd you just say?" I breathed.

"You are the daughter of a male vampire and a female human. That makes you very special. If you are turned and drink from the daughter of a priest within forty-eight hours before your twenty-first birthday, you turn into what we call Royalty."

I blinked. "Royalty?"

"Capital R," he replied. "It means you have strength more powerful than most vampires. I wish to have one as my mate."

I recoiled. "Your _mate_? I don't care what you say, I'm never going to touch you, you disgusting son of a bitch."

"You may change your mind later, Dominique," he replied. "Bon appetite."

He turned and started to walk up the stairs, the other vampire following him, and my eyes widened as I gasped. "You don't mean—."

"You'll enjoy her," he replied, his back to me as he climbed the steps. "Trust me."

"No! No, I won't do it!" I screamed after them. "I won't do it!" At that, completely ignoring me, they walked through the doorway and closed and locked the door.

"Oh God," I whispered. I looked over to the girl that was huddled in the corner and I let out a sob, closing my eyes. "Oh God, no." I started to cry, leaning my head back against the wall.

After a few minutes, I heard movement on the other side of the room and opened my eyes, blinking away the tears. The young girl had stood up. "My name's Kaylie," she whispered. "I-I'm scared too."

She took a step toward me and I recoiled. "Don't," I said quickly. She stopped. "Don't come near me."

"Why not?" she asked, confused.

"Because," I whispered. "Because…I'll hurt you."

"Why would you hurt me?" Kaylie whispered, taking a step back.

I stared at the young girl's face. The pain of not having drunk was already starting to build in my throat. I tore my gaze away from her. "I won't have a choice."

"You always have a choice," Kaylie said quietly.

"Not when it takes over," I whispered. "Kaylie, do you know what a vampire is?"

Kaylie swallowed. "Vampires aren't real. They're made up."

"I wish I could say that, but…they are real. Those two men were vampires. And I was just turned into one."

I heard Kaylie's heart speed up. "What?" she breathed.

"They locked both of us down her for a reason. If I can't get blood any other way, and you're here…." I looked up to her with tears in my eyes. "The monster in me will come out and…I'll go after you. I'm sorry."

Kaylie whimpered and stepped back against the wall, sitting down with her knees up to her chin. "I want to go home," she sobbed.

"I know," I said. I thought hard for a few seconds, trying to think if there was any way that Sam could have survived the gunshots to the chest. There was, though it wasn't likely, but I had to keep up hope. And even if Sam hadn't survived, other hunters might come. "Look, there is a chance that someone will come save us, ok?"

"There is?" Kaylie whispered. "Who?"

"They're called hunters," I told her. "They help the good vampires and kill the bad ones."

"They'll come save us? How will they know where to look?" Kaylie asked. "We're in a forest."

I hesitated, knowing that the vampires could be listening upstairs. If they knew I had a cell on me they might take it. "They're…pretty good at finding people. And they're smart. If a hunter comes in, you can trust them."

"Ok," Kaylie whispered.

I hesitated. "My name's Dominique, by the way." Kaylie nodded. I narrowed my eyes, thinking for a second. "The vampires poisoned me, Kaylie, but once I get my strength back I'm going to be able to get free of these handcuffs," I said, showing them to her. "I want you to take them and use them against me if I try to hurt you."

"How?" she asked.

"I'm really, really allergic to silver," I replied. "If it touches me, I get burned."

"Are you burning right now?" she whispered.

I sighed. "It's been so long I can't feel my wrists anymore. But vampires heal. I'll get better if I can get them off." I looked around and stood up. "There has to be a way out of here. There just has to be. At least a hole that you can squeeze through or…something. You're smaller than me." I looked around the basement, but I couldn't see anything. "Dammit," I muttered.

"You really don't want to hurt me, do you?" Kaylie asked.

I shook my head. "No. I really don't. Not yet anyway." I looked over to the stairs. "Wait a second." I walked over to the wooden steps, looking them over. I lifted my foot over the first step and snapped it down with all the force I could muster. The wooden plank snapped in half and I turned around, leaned down, and pulled at the piece of wood until it snapped off.

"If I can do that…maybe I do have enough strength back," I murmured. I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the pain, put my wrists together, and yanked them apart as hard as I could. The chain snapped, digging into my flesh for a split second, and I cried out in pain.

After a few seconds, I looked over to Kaylie, and my eyes lit up. "Of course. Kaylie, give me your hairpin. I can get out of these things, give them to you." Kaylie nodded, taking her hairpin out, as I walked over. The sound of her blood pumping through her veins grew louder and more intense as I got closer to her, but luckily I was still able to ignore it. "Take this too. It's sharp," I said, handing her a piece of the wood that had snapped off.

"You want me to hurt you?" she whispered.

I nodded, backing up quickly. "If I attack you, I don't want you to even think about it. Just do it. Ok?"

Kaylie nodded, gripping the wood tightly. I took the hairpin and went over to the other side of the room, sat down, and went to work on my handcuffs. I let out a long breath, letting it give me something else to concentrate on.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Chapter 9:

Sam groaned, blinking rapidly, and opened his eyes and looked around. "Ethan?" he whispered.

"Easy, there," Ethan said as he finished wrapping Sam's chest. "Just a second."

"Dominique. Where is she?" he breathed.

"She's gone. They took her."

"Dammit," he moaned.

"You are one smart kid. How did you know to wear a vest overnight?"

Sam tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. "Experience. They had guns. Vampires don't usually need guns, but for some reason they thought they did when they were at the motel. Probably because they needed to take Dominique and needed an edge. Figured I was better safe than sorry, especially staying in a place I don't know the security details of. Not that I doubt you," Sam said quickly.

"I know," Ethan replied. "Okay, you're good." He stood up and started gathering up the medical supplies he had spread around as well as the bloody towels.

"I gotta go," Sam said, sitting up.

"Hey, hey, hey," Ethan exclaimed. "You just got took a shot to the shoulder and two to the chest. Granted the chest shots were hampered by the vest, but that is still a strong hit. You're lucky you didn't break a rib."

Sam glared at him. "I've taken worse. You coming or staying?"

"Don't you think we should call Dean?" Ethan asked. "The two of us against a whole nest of vampires? Really?"

"I can't just sit here and do nothing while they turn that girl into a killer," Sam snapped.

"I'll tell you what," Ethan said. "You find her, I'll get backup and meet you out there ASAP. But we can't just rush a nest. It's suicide."

Sam sighed. "Fine." He thought for a second. "Hopefully her cell is on."

An hour later, Sam was parked about a half a mile away from where the GPS said that Dominique was and called Ethan, asking if the backup would be there soon. He said that it should be just a few minutes. Sam sat in the car, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting with the window open, straining to hear the sound of a car.

Suddenly, he heard the faint scream of a young girl. He didn't hesitate. Knowing that by the time backup got there it could be too late, Sam turned the key in the ignition and hit the gas.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9:

Chapter 10:

Eventually, I got the handcuffs off and I gave them to Kaylie. She was now armed with a sharp piece of wood and some silver. It was just too bad that a wooden stake to the heart wouldn't kill me. I would have died to save that little girl in a second. Of course, the other vampires would probably kill her if I didn't anyway. When I got more of my strength back, I nearly dislocated my shoulder trying to break down the door at the top of the stairs, but it was no good, and there wasn't a keyhole for me to pick.

I kept praying that Sam would show up with other hunters. Even though I was pretty sure he was dead, so nobody would come looking for me. I doubted that Ethan would, at least

After a while, it finally started to get to me. The thirst started to be a force in the back of my throat, an intense ache that wanted me to leap at the young girl sitting in the corner. But I didn't. I forced myself to stay in my corner of the room. I did some steady breathing with my eyes closed, trying to relax, and think about anything but blood.

But of course, when you try not to think about something, it's all you think about.

_Come on, Sam._ I swallowed, opening my eyes, and stared at my hands. I tried to concentrate, force the thirst down into my stomach, but it was too powerful. I felt myself losing control like I was slipping off the edge of a cliff. I was trying to hold on, but it was just too slippery.

"Kaylie," I whispered. She didn't answer and I realized that I'd spoken too softly. "Kaylie," I said, louder.

The girl bolted upright. "What?" she asked, sensing the worry in my voice.

"I'm losing it," I told her. "I…I can't…." I looked up at her, breathing hard. "Oh God." I stared at her, and it just took a few more seconds.

I heard a hungry growl emerge from my throat and my fangs came out.

"Dominique?" Kaylie whispered.

I barely heard her. All I could concentrate on was her blood rushing in my ears. My throat ached for it and the intensity of it made me walk slowly toward her.

"Please," Kaylie sobbed, edging along the wall, weapons in hand. "Don't."

I let out another low growl. I dashed over to the young girl, and she screamed, holding up the weapons in defense, and lashing out. The silver cuffs hit my face I gasped and stumbled backwards, falling to the floor.

I breathed hard, my hands healing, and fumbled backwards away from Kaylie, feeling for fangs with my tongue. They had retracted. I let out a long breath. "Looks like silver can bring me back," I whispered. "At least tempor—."

At that, an enormous smash sounded from upstairs and I leapt at least six inches into the air. I motioned to Kaylie. "Hide under the stairs," I snapped. Kaylie darted behind the steps and I stayed back against the wall, waiting to see what would happen.

Gunshots echoed through the house as well as cries of pain. My eyes wide with shock, I stared at the steps, waiting for someone to come down them. Then I heard another cry of pain, a faintly familiar one.

"Sam?" I whispered. My heart leapt with hope and I dashed up the stairs. "Sam!" I screamed, banging on the door. "I'm in here! Sam!" Then my hope vanished as more cries came from Sam. _Tell me you didn't try to ambush them on your own,_ I begged silently. _You'll be killed._

Ten seconds later, everything fell silent. It was like that for a few long seconds before there was more movement. I swallowed, desperate to know what was going on behind the door. It finally swung open and I winced at the light, blinded. I instantly knew it wasn't Sam.

Then again, I would have figured it out pretty quickly even if I didn't have my amazing sense of smell when he shoved me down the stairs.

I cried out as I tumbled down the steps, hitting the cement floor hard. I squeezed my eyes shut as they teared and pain echoed through me. I heard steps coming down the stairs though, and survival kicked in. _Danger. Get away._ I forced myself to open my eyes and move backwards along the floor away from him.

"That girl still alive?" he asked as he arrived at the bottom step. He stopped, sniffed the air, and turned around, looking through the slits in the staircase at Kaylie. "You've lasted a while." He turned back to me. "Great strength you have."

"Go to hell," I hissed, staring up at him.

"Heard her scream though. You got close, didn't you?" I could only glare at him. "It's only a matter of time. We'll save the hunter for a snack for you after you drink from her."

"You stay away from him!" I screamed, struggling to sit up. Actually, I was pretty weak. I could have thrown myself down the stairs before and I would have been too weak to attack Kaylie. That was an idea. A painful one, but an idea.

The man smiled deviously. "You know him?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Oh, all the better. But backup should be here for him soon. I need to get my people ready." At that, he turned and went up the stairs.

"You aren't _people_," I spat.

He stopped, turned around. "Careful. You're talking about yourself now, Dominique." At that, he left, not looking back, leaving me staring after him.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Chapter 11:

"Kaylie?" I finally whispered a few minutes later.

"Yea?" she whispered back.

"I have an idea."

"What is it?" Kaylie asked hopefully.

"You're not going to like it. I don't even like it. But it looks like we don't have a choice."

"Wh-what do you mean? What's your idea?" she stammered.

"If you let me drink from you…just a little…I might have enough strength to go up against that man."

"But you'll kill me!" she whimpered.

I shook my head. "I'll stop before I kill you. I won't take too much. But we have to do it now. While I'm still clearheaded enough to stop. You'll have the silver, so you hit me with it if I don't stop, okay?"

"I don't like this idea," Kaylie sobbed. "I want to go home."

"I know," I said, a hitch in my throat. Truthfully I hated the idea as well. "But this is the only way. Can you be brave for me? Can you do this?"

Kaylie hesitated. "I…." She let out a long, shaky breath, wiping away tears. "If you do it…you can get us out of here?"

I nodded. "Yea."

She swallowed. "Okay," she whispered. "I'll…I'll do it."

"Okay," I whispered. I slowly stood up and walked over to her, limping slightly, and sat down. The urge was already starting to come back, stronger than ever, so I needed to do it now. I ripped my shirt, taking a thick strip all the way around, to be able to wrap her wound afterward. "Give me your arm."

"I thought you drink from my neck?" Kaylie asked shakily.

"Usually, because that's where the most blood is. If I just drink from your arm, it'll be easier to stop the bleeding after I'm done."

Kaylie nodded slowly and, shaking so badly I thought she was going to go into hysterics, she sat down in front of me. "You have the silver?" I asked. She nodded, holding it up in her right hand. I took in and let out a deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to look scary, Kaylie. Like before."

"Okay," she choked out.

Then I took the young girl's arm, let out my fangs, and bit her.

Kaylie cried out in pain, but didn't hit me with the silver yet. I have to say, I don't know if I could have been as brave as her. The blood was so delicious, it was like I was breathing after being underwater for minutes at a time. I did my best to keep the animal inside me buried, so I could stop when I wanted to. But I stopped recognizing reality until silver hit the side of my face.

I cried out and leapt back, swallowing the last of the blood in my mouth. I blinked a few times, bringing the world back into focus. "Kaylie," I exclaimed. "Kaylie!" I darted back to her, lifting her into my arms as I grabbed the cloth, wrapping it around the wound. "Say something."

"I'm okay," she whispered. "I was just getting really…tired…and if I couldn't hit you…then you could keep going…and…then I couldn't get away…which was bad."

I relaxed. "Yes. That would have been bad. You did the right thing." I closed my eyes and did a mental check of my body before I reopened them. "Okay. Keep your hand here, hold it tightly," I told her, putting her hand on the cloth. I laid her gently on the floor and stood up.

And fell back down again.

I shrieked as something sharp cut through my stomach, my heart, my chest.

"Dominique?" Kaylie whispered weakly. I collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. I tried to keep my thoughts straight through the pain, but it took a minute before I could see straight again.

I looked around the room as I rose to my feet, my senses even better than before, my confidence increased tenfold, and with a wicked smile, ascended the stairs.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11:

Chapter 12:

As I reached the top of the stairs, the door opened and the man from before appeared. I blinked slowly at him before I smiled, slid my hands up his chest, and up to his neck, and kissed him deeply. I drove him back into the hallway as I kissed him, kicking the door closed behind myself with a bang.

Then I pulled away, staring at his cocky, slightly incredulous face. I looked over to my left and, with a cocked eyebrow, blinked at the car in the kitchen. Then I looked to my right and saw Sam, in a chair, his hands tied behind it, beaten and bloodied. And I smiled.

"So this is the man that personally tried save me from this _terr-r-ible _existence," I purred, gliding over to Sam.

"Dom?" he whispered. "Oh God, no…. What happened to you?" I smiled at him, but there was no warmth behind it. He stared at me, defiant, but pulled back when I got close, swallowing nervously.

"My new friends helped me discover who I really am," I whispered. "Royalty."

"Royalty?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes.

"My father was a vampire, apparently. Who knew?" I asked with a shrug.

Sam's eyes widened. "Your…father was…?"

I leaned toward him, putting my hands on the back of his chair, and I heard his heartbeat speed up. "That makes me special, Sam. You were going to take that away from me."

"This isn't you," he told me, his voice slightly cracking.

I ignored him. I slid onto his lap, caressing his face, and he twitched at my touch, knowing I could snap his neck at any moment. "This is the man who got me out of that operating room and tried to get me into a life of hiding. That's what you were going to do, wasn't it Sam?" I leaned in close to his ear and he flinched at my breath on his ear. "You were going to help me become a better person?" I whispered. "Thing is, I'm not a person anymore."

I drew back and stood up, my face slipping into anger. "I'm better than a person. And you were going to take that away from me. Midnight tonight was all you had to get me to. And I never would have felt this. This amazing confidence that makes me feel like I could rule the world." I walked over to his jacket, which was sitting on the floor, and took out the long blade, running my hand along the smooth, flat metal. Then I turned back to Sam, who glanced from the blade to me. His heart beat faster.

"Don't do this," he whispered. "This _isn't you_."

"Like hell it isn't," I hissed, walking over and lifting his chin with the tip of the blade. He sucked in a quick breath, almost afraid to move. "You don't know a thing about me." I lowered the blade. "You couldn't. You haven't experienced what I have." I looked back over to the vampire standing across the room and smiled seductively, walking over to him. "But you have." I wrapped my arms around his neck, staring at him. "What's your name?"

"Victor," he replied with a sly smile.

"You are the leader of this nest, right?" I asked. "That's why I'll be your mate, because you're the most powerful one here." Victor gave a single, self-confident nod. "Well then."

The blade I held at the back of his neck went smoothly through skin, tissue and bone as I decapitated him, ducking down to avoid the blade. Victor stared at me for a second as I stood to the side, and his body crumpled to the ground, his head falling from his shoulders.

I turned and faced the incredulous crowd of vampires, which I had tallied at six when I'd walked into the room to see what I was up against, and struck a fighting stance with the bloody blade in my hands. "Leave this place if you want to live," I hissed.

After a second of hesitation, I'm assuming some of them thought they should avenge their leader's death at first, the vampires scattered, leaving through the front and back doors.

"Sam, are you all right?" I asked urgently, walking around the chair behind him to cut off the ropes that restrained his wrists.

"Am I…?" he started, staring at me in shock. "Jesus, you're a good actress. How did you…I mean…." He stopped, bringing his wrists forward with a grimace to rub his wrists as I cut the ropes off his ankles. "How did you get your strength back?"

"That's the thing," I said as I quickly cut the last of the ropes off. "I had to drink from Kaylie."

Sam stared at me. "You didn't," he whispered.

"She's okay, but we need to get her to the hospital," I told him. "She'll need a transfusion. But I stopped before I killed her."

"You…_stopped_?" Sam asked, stunned.

"Yea." I shifted the blade to my left hand and went over to Sam's side, putting my arm under his and easily lifting him to his feet. He groaned as we walked forward to the car. "I'll get her. You just…take shotgun, okay? I'll drive."

I walked him around to the other side of the car, which apparently he'd decided to drive straight into the house as I'd noticed before. Then I put him into the passenger seat before I ran back downstairs to get Kaylie.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Chapter 13:

"We've notified her parents. They should be here soon," the doctor told me and Sam. We nodded slowly.

"How's she doing?" I asked quietly.

"She's stable," he replied. "That's all I can tell you since you aren't family. You said you weren't sure how she'd gotten the wounds?" We nodded. "You'll need to talk to the police." He motioned to the right, where two policeman were walking over to us.

Sam looked over to me. "Let me do the talking," he told me. "And whatever you do, don't call me Sam." I nodded, a bit confused. He turned back to the police as they walked over.

"You want to tell me how you found Kaylie Watson?" he asked.

"Basically, it was just chance. Natalie and I like to go for walks in the woods, explore the territory, and we were passing nearby the house when we heard her scream. We're both trained in martial arts and knew that by the time the police got there, it could be too late. We went inside and took them by surprise, which was good because one of them had a gun. There were two men. One of them got in some lucky punches with me, but Natalie here is pretty slick. She used the whole 'scared female' thing to lure the guy and then surprised him."

I just stood there, waiting for Sam to finish, watching the police officers' faces to make sure they believed us.

"Eventually they got scared enough to take off. Even though we saw that there were a few people dead, our first priority was whoever had screamed, obviously, so we searched the house. We found Kaylie in the basement, bleeding. Hysterical. Talking nonsense. She said the men had…fangs, I think it was. Like they were vampires?"

"Vampires?" the police officer repeated, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't know what they were playing at, but I didn't see anything weird. They might have been doing some role-play thing, pretending to be vampires. You can get fangs at any costume store. I have no idea really, I'm just trying to figure out where she could have gotten the fangs idea from. That's just grasping at straws."

The police officer finished off his notes and nodded. "That's a good theory. We have your names and phone numbers in case we need to contact you later, so you're free to go."

"Yes sir," Sam replied. "Just glad we could help."

"Can we see her? Is she awake?" I asked. "Just to make sure she's okay."

"If it's all right with her parents," he replied.

"Excuse me?" said a voice from behind the policemen. The two turned around and saw a teary-eyed woman and a man beside her. "We're looking for our daughter."

"You're Mary and Christopher Watson?" one of the officers asked. They nodded. "Your daughter is stable. She's in room 205, right down that hall."

The woman burst into tears. "Oh thank God," she sobbed, grabbing her husband in a hug. They turned and went quickly down the hallway.

"I'd give them a couple of minutes," the second officer told me. They took down our information before they left.

"We gotta go," Sam said quietly.

"I wanted to see how she's doing," I objected, surprised he was so eager to leave.

"We need to disappear," he told me. "Besides, all that will do will create more confusion. The quicker that girl thinks that she imagined the whole vampire thing, the better."

I swallowed and nodded before following Sam down the elevators and back to his car, and we set off for Massachusetts.


End file.
